Sunday 19 May 1661
(Lord’s day) I walked in the morning towards Westminster, and seeing many people at York House, I went down and found them at mass, it being the Spanish ambassodors; and so I go into one of the gallerys, and there heard two masses done, I think, not in so much state as I have seen them heretofore. After that into the garden, and walked a turn or two, but found it not so fine a place as I always took it for by the outside. Thence to my Lord’s and there spake with him about business, and then he went to Whitehall to dinner, and Capt. Ferrers and Mr. Howe and myself to Mr. Wilkinson’s at the Crown, and though he had no meat of his own, yet we happened to find our cook Mr. Robinson there, who had a dinner for himself and some friends, and so he did give us a very fine dinner.
Then to my Lord’s, where we went and sat talking and laughing in the drawing-room a great while. All our talk about their going to sea this voyage, which Capt. Ferrers is in some doubt whether he shall go or no, but swears that he would go, if he were sure never to come back again; and I, giving him some hopes, he grew so mad with joy that he fell a-dancing and leaping like a madman.
Now it fell out so that the balcone windows were open, and he went to the rayle and made an offer to leap over, and asked what if he should leap over there. I told him I would give him 40l. if he did not go to sea. With that thought I shut the doors, and W. Howe hindered him all we could; yet he opened them again, and, with a vault, leaps down into the garden:— the greatest and most desperate frolic that ever I saw in my life. I run to see what was become of him, and we found him crawled upon his knees, but could not rise; so we went down into the garden and dragged him to the bench, where he looked like a dead man, but could not stir; and, though he had broke nothing, yet his pain in his back was such as he could not endure. With this, my Lord (who was in the little new room) come to us in amaze, and bid us carry him up, which, by our strength, we did, and so laid him in East’s bed, by the door; where he lay in great pain. We sent for a doctor and chyrurgeon, but none to be found, till by-and-by by chance comes in Dr. Clerke, who is afeard of him. So we sent to get a lodging for him, and I went up to my Lord, where Captain Cooke, Mr. Gibbons, and others of the King’s musicians were come to present my Lord with some songs and symphonys, which were performed very finely. Which being done I took leave and supped at my father’s, where was my cozen Beck come lately out of the country.
I am troubled to see my father so much decay of a suddain, as he do both in his seeing and hearing, and as much to hear of him how my brother Tom do grow disrespectful to him and my mother.
I took leave and went home, where to prayers (which I have not had in my house a good while), and so to bed.
52 Annotations
First Reading
A. De Araujo • Link
"and leaping like a mad man" not qualified to be a cap'n; SP should not be giving him false hopes.
dirk • Link
"them at mass, it being the Spanish ambassodors"
The Spanish ambassadors are certainly Roman Catholics. The service is of course Anglican. A notable case of religious tolerance on both sides...
dirk • Link
"we happened to find our cook Mr. Robinson there, who had a dinner for himself and some friends"
Robinson brought his own food to the inn? Obviously this was acceptable at the time - you shouldn't try this nowadays...
dirk • Link
Capt. Ferrers
This whole story of the Captain jumping through the window is worthy of a vaudeville (except for the sorry ending) - probably too much to drink, and then the excitement! Who was it that said reality often outwits fiction?
Josh • Link
After a day like this, if I were I Sam I'd pray for "the continuance of my reason," in the words of his later namesake Sam Johnson, so as not to wind up like Captain Ferrers, who almost didn't come back from the garden, much less from the sea.
dirk • Link
"and went home, where to prayers (which I have not had in my house a good while)"
One finds God through sorrow... Sam is worried about his father's declining health, and has to face the frightening fact that even parents grow old - and are mortal!
Australian Susan • Link
"found them at mass, it being the Spanish ambassodors; "
I think this would have been a Catholic mass, which was now allowed for foreign ambassadors in the current relaxed state of things under the new King. Sam, ever being curious, goes to watch. If it had been an Anglican service, he would have joined in as a member of the congregation - but it isn't - he just wants to see what happens because he always follows up anything like this, which is one reason his diary is so good.
Australian Susan • Link
Is Christopher Gibbons a relation of Orlando Gibbons?
dirk • Link
"found them at mass..."
Susan, I think you're right. This is probably why Sam attends two consecutive masses. He's studying them as an interested spectator.
Mary House • Link
I'm reading Lynne Truss' delightful "Eats,Shoots and Leaves" and it makes me wonder if the punctuation in diary is Sam's own. Would anyone know if the original shorthanded text contains the punctuation we are seeing or was it added later, or modernized.
daniel • Link
Yes, A. Susan
Christopher is the eldest son of Orlando. he too was an outstanding keyboardist and would (or already has) take(n) a post at the Chapel Royal. Anthony Wood describes him as "a person most excellent in his faculty, but a grand debauchee".
a man of the of the times!
vicente • Link
Evelyn did say this was the days reference 16 Joh 33
here are 3 versions
16:33 11 These things I have spoken unto you, that [ h ref]in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world
http://www.reformed.org/documents…
33: These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
King James
33 These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you shall have distress: but have confidence, I have overcome the world.
http://search.earthlink.net/searc…
And now we will argue the toss over what was meant.[ should a colon,semi colon or commer or]
Australian Susan • Link
Lynne Truss
I am reading this too! Perhaps people attracted to this site are also attracted to witty books on punctuation!
Re Vincent's Bible versions:
The Geneva Bible was probably illegal as was the Douai one. The Geneva Bible was based on the Bishop's Bible of the late 16th century, but had a Calvinist inspired commentary in with it, disapproved of by the monarchy. Thus the Authorised KJV. The Douai Bible came from the English College established at Douai in the late 16th c to re-establish the Catholic Church and the Mass in England.Many Douai graduates ended up being executed as traitors or spies in Elizabeth's reign, because of paranoia over Spain and Mary, Queen of Scots.[this is rather a simplified summary]
Mary • Link
Catholic mass.
The chapels of Catholic envoys (and also the chapel of the Queen Mother, when she was in England) were the only places where the saying of the Catholic mass was permitted. There was still a law in force which forbade English citizens to attend such services, but the law was not always strictly enforced and Sam expresses no great sense of personal daring in attending this one.
Mary • Link
"our cook"
(Per L&M footnote). Robinson is 'our cook' only in the sense that Pepys bought cooked meats from his shop.
Mary • Link
evening prayers in Seething Lane.
Presuumably this indicates that the construction of the staircase is now complete, the workmen gone and the whole household reassembled; therefore domestic Sunday evening prayers are reinstated.
Jackie • Link
At the time, it just seemed to be Sam's curiosity, but in future years, attending mass like this would have been seen as a highly danngerous political statement to make. When Sam got into trouble, one of the accusations against him was that he was a closet Catholic and had attended masses.
adam w • Link
Capn Ferrers
Can anyone explain this bet? If he jumped off the balcony he'd get £40 and not go to sea? And why does he want to go to sea and not come back again?
Australian Susan • Link
The dangers of Catholicism
Yes, Sam's overweening curiosity puts him in later danger (another accusation - long afterthe diary period - was that he had a cross in his house. This seems to have been just a painting). His loyalty to King James was twisted from what it was - loyalty to the crown and offices of state - into being linked to closet Catholicism. I agree with Mary, Sam is showing no sense that what he is doing arises from anything other than idle curiosity (along with many others). The dangers of this came later.
Ruben • Link
"he had broke nothing, yet his pain in his back was such as he could not endure"
Sam probably is describing a vertebral compression fracture.
Mary • Link
Ferrers' desperate wager.
This seems to fall into two parts. Firstly, Ferrers asks what Pepys will give him if he leaps over the balcony. Pepys, trying to change the wager, offers to give Ferrers £40 if the captain fails to get a commission to go to sea. In other words, Pepys is betting heavily that Ferrers will be commissioned. However, Ferrers is in a highly excited state and leaps the balcony despite the efforts of the others to restrain him and despite the fact that his original challenge has not been accepted. All highly illogical, but F. seems to be in no state to listen to any sort of reason.
His earlier statement (‘he would go if he were sure never to come back again’) seems to mean that F. is determined to go to sea at any price, EVEN IF he were sure never to come back again. Perhaps he has huge debts on shore? Then, one way or another, a sea voyage might settle matters.
Pedro. • Link
Catholic mass.
Freedom to practice the Catholic Religion, for Charles' (hope the apostrophe is in the right place Mary!) future wife Catherine, was one of the agreements of the Marriage Arrangement between England and Portugal.
Thanks to Dirk/Vincente and John Evelyn this had been put to the Council on May 8th.
JWB • Link
Tom
Father conplains of his disrespect. He's living in his father's house, doing his father's business, all the time incubating TB. He's probably jealous of Sam's success or ashamed of his lack thereof. Poor Tom never marries and his bastard daughter by maidservant, the family disowns on his death.
Mary • Link
Punctuation
The introduction to the first volume of the L&M edition states that punctuation is almost non-existent in the original text, since the marks could be confused with the shorthand. Pepys did use a few full-stops, colons, dashes and parentheses, but the punctuation that appears in any edition of the diaries is almost entirely editorial.
adam w • Link
Capn Ferrers
Thanks Mary, it does make more sense if you see SP's wager and his subsequent actions as attempts to disuade the hot-headed captain from the death-defying leap. Would you want this man in charge of your ship?
Sjoerd • Link
I don't know if "Captain" is necessarily a nautical title. You might get that impression from the first mention of Ferrers (http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1… ) when he is introduced as Lieutenant Ferrers, presumably on the ship of Captain Cuttance. Even so, officers in this period seem to switch between land and ship rather easy, as did Edward Montagu, General Monk and Prince Rupert.
Diana Bonebrake • Link
I get the impression that the Captain
had a death wish!
helena murphy • Link
If my understanding is correct the masses were being celebrated in York House which then belonged to the second Duke of Buckingham. Evidently the Villiers family had Roman Catholic leanings as Barbara Villiers,Lady Castlemaine , converted to the faith. In spite of the recusancy laws priests bravely continued to say mass in the houses of the great ,and not so great.Pepys' presence in the congregation , though spiritually admirable is sadly politically foolish given the times.If one were not a member of the diplomatic household ,irrespective of one's social stature one always ran the risk of being apprehended ,fined, imprisoned or perhaps even executed for professing the Roman Catholic faith.
vicente • Link
An officer is an officer, if he can command a band of peasants with hand cannons then he could command a ship. Sandwich did command a regiment when 17 then went on to bigger commands, then he went on to command a fleet of "boats". There were no colleges of Dartmouth or Sand hurst or any other formal training other than reading up on Ceasars Gallic wars or the the Alex's foray through Persia.
Regards jumping out of the window and putting his spine out position or worse. He may have been a little high on the poppy from the Fens? or even testing out rye bread that has fermented prior to baking.
David A. Smith • Link
"pain in his back was such as he could not endure"
Spurred by Ruben's nifty diagnosis, I found this site (http://www.emedicinehealth.com/ar…),
"... occurs when the bones of the spine become broken due to trauma. Usually the trauma necessary to break the bones of the spine is quite large. The vertebrae most commonly broken are those in the lower back."
"... can occur with a fall from a tall height in which the person lands on his or her feet or buttocks"
Symptoms include pain, tingling or numbness, losing control of stool or urine (this last indicating "the fracture may be pushing on the spinal cord itself") ...
In short, *OUCH!*
While I endorse Mary's insightful analysis, I fear the good captain Ferrers is going to be all too easy for his creditors to find, as he will be flat on his back for some weeks ....
dirk • Link
Capt. Ferrers
As I understand it, Mary was merely suggesting Ferrers might be running away from his creditors - have we any proof that this is actually the case? He might just have been eager for some adventure (very romantic, but then again this would have been fairly typical for the age).
vicente • Link
You may not believe this, but I did survived a fall of 45 Ft in my teens and the first things they checked for were for passing of gas and urine, to see if the insides were functioning , fortunately, I only smashed up my left leg and left foot, now OK. Thanks to a great Surgeon who patched me up.In the same ward, there were many bodies on all sort of pullies from the ceiling strapped up for months, but I was sent on my way in days with plaster of paris and long jumping sticks for crossing streams. Two other cases : 1) a lad fell 3 feet and smashed 21 bones, he was calcium deficient but a brilliant lad, Granta material. 2) another Lad fell 60 ft down a elevator shaft in a wharehouse and only dislocated a thumb. Based on this limited experience Our Kapitan could be up and walking again or forever bed bound [no less paraplegic].
Glyn • Link
In case anyone is concerned for Captain Ferrers - according to the Diary Index he will appear later in the year and for several years hereafter, so presumably he in fact suffered only minor injuries.
Ruben • Link
Captain Ferrers
there is a confussion here with the trauma suffered by this fellow.
There a lot of details to consider that we do not know: if the balcone was just level with the garden or in a second floor, if the man jumped or did some kind of "salto".
As for my diagnosis of a compressed vertebral fracture, this is a kind of fracture on the anterior part of the vertebra's body and completely different from the burst fractures that usually produce lesions to the spinal cord.
The compressed fracture only produces a lot of pain ( no neurological deficit). This fracture was stupendously described and treated by Watson Jones in the 19 century (working with miners) in Wales, if my memory is good. In 2 -3 weeks he will be OK, except for some pain in bad weather or after riding for long.
vicente • Link
"an elevator shaft in a wharehouse" It was A tall building, 5 to 6 floors of Storage on a wharf near Hertford Hertford for Grain et al. the elevator shaft [sorry lift] was a mechanical wooden platform and ye hawled yerself and goods with a nice thick rope on pulleys, there were no doors or gates or anything fancy and it certainly predated Schindler or Otis or any of those beautiful devices seen in old Paris Movies , to take up one and 'alf people up to the fourth floor at a nicel stately speed of 1 ft per /---.
language hat • Link
Congratulations, Vicente!
As for Capt. Ferrers' fall, it reminds me of the scene in War and Peace where a drunken Pierre insists on sitting in a window and finishing a bottle on a bet -- he doesn't fall out, though.
helena murphy • Link
The man who used to decorate and paint our house once fell 35 or 40 feet from a school and landed on his feet like a cat. He simply got up and walked away with no injuries whatsoever. He was physically short and slim,rather fit, and landed on the grassed lawn rather than on the concrete path.
I agree that an officer is always an officer,a bit of high jinks whilst partying is no indication of incompetence. In fact this is a man who will pull his ship through a hurricane without ever losing his cool.Daring is also synonimous with courage and resolution.
Sjoerd • Link
One small thing about this Ferrers guy is: why is Dr. Clarke "afeard" of him ?
This is one of the king personal physicians, that went over to Holland with SP, got himself all soaked going ashore twice... why would he be afeard of someone like Ferrers.
Maybe Ferrers was a bit of a lad, as they say ?
Mary • Link
Dr. Clarke's fear.
Dr. Clarke is 'afeard' on Ferrers' behalf, afraid FOR him. The idiom has changed since the mid-17th Century.
Sjoerd • Link
That would explain it, but i found "afeard of" in the diary on
4/11/1667
28/5/1665
and in Shakespeare's "Taming of the shrew" and it means "afraid of" there just as it would now.
Hic Retearius • Link
The Flying Ferrers
To understand Ferrers' personality today, perhaps we should think "fighter jock" a little bit.
Being the captain of a ship is special to this day but in Sam's time, the captain of a vessel had to have not just huge technical knowledge of seamanship and navigation but a strong "personal presence" among his crew. His immediate subordinates were not professionals, "officers and gentlemen" were to come later. The n.c.o.s would be brutes for the most part and a substantial slice of the crew would have been dregs either without the opportunity or maybe the ability to have taken a trade. They had to be herded and goaded like cattle. The ordinary recruit's experience of the world was minute and the whole lot before the mast would have been illiterates.
Into this stepped the captain. He had to "construct" and hold together a crew that could operate a sensitive, intricate piece of high tech. equipment and would continue to do that even under the most dangerous conditions at sea. For the safety of everyone, he had life and death authority.
In his off time he would have no outlet. Ferrers might very well have become a hell for leather fellow when ashore and in his cups among his equals. (Those of you with knowledge of aviation, recall now the chestnut of the j.a.t.o. bottle and the jeep! Transported forward into today, Ferrers would have been a "candidate"; in Sam's day, he decided that he had to jump off the second story.)
Now that's the way his personality comes across here.
vicente • Link
In civilian life, they [Ferrers] are impossible, in a mix up of battle, invaluable. Your summary, Hic Retearius, is great. To succeed in the highly structured Civilian life, the skill set required is 180 degrees opposed to Daring do of battle, of course there are those that have the required full range of skills of Courtier to Alpha mode. Many are successful in breaching both worlds. As noted earlier Wm. Batten is having some trouble to remember, that he is a Courtier now, not sailing[ or nag into battle] against the Corsairs etc..
Don • Link
"...why would he be afeard of someone like Ferrers." I read that as meaning the doctor was afraid Ferrers would die. "Afeard of" is still often heard in the Appalachians.
Kevin Sheerstone • Link
adam w - "Would you want this man in charge of your ship?"
If I were on the ship, emphatically NO. If I were the 'Commander in Chief' then Yes, on the grounds that he scares the hell out of me and will probably have the same effect on the enemy. Nothing changes.
vicente • Link
follow up on survival:
Think of Nick Alkemade, an RAF tailgunner who jumped from his flaming turret without a parachute and fell 18,000 feet. When he came to and saw stars overhead, he lit a cigarette.
http://www.greenharbor.com/fffold…
Pedro. • Link
Catholic Mass.
Queen's Chapel, St James's Palace
- known at various times in the past as the German Lutheran Chapel or German Chapel Royal
- one of the two chapels at St James's Palace
- this chapel stands near Marlborough House and was part of St James's Palace until a fire in 1809 isolated it from the rest of the building
- it was designed by Inigo Jones (the English architect and stage designer) in the Palladian style, was completed in 1627 and was first used by King Charles I's wife, Henrietta Maria of France, as her private Roman Catholic chapel
- the chapel was subsequently used by two more Roman Catholic queens, Catherine of Braganza and Mary of Modena, wives of King Charles II and King James II, respectively
http://mypage.uniserve.ca/~canyon…
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
Queen's Chapel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Que…
Bill • Link
"it being the Spanish ambassodors"
The Baron de Batteville.
---Diary and correspondence of Samuel Pepys, the diary deciphered by J. Smith. 1854.
Bill • Link
"it being the Spanish ambassodors"
The Baron de Batteville, or Vatteville, who is said to have concealed much observant quickness and an intriguing spirit under a plain, rough, soldierlike frankness of demeanour. He was very active in opposition to the proposed marriage of Charles II. with the Infanta of Portugal.
---Wheatley, 1899.
Bill • Link
"the greatest and most desperate frolic that ever I saw in my life"
A FROLICK, a merry Prank, a Whim.
---An Universal Etymological English Dictionary. N. Bailey, 1675.
eileen d. • Link
re: vicente's post on Nick Alkemade's 18,000 foot fall during WWII
from Wikipedia:
"...His fall was broken by pine trees and a soft snow cover on the ground. He was able to move his arms and legs and suffered only a sprained leg. The Lancaster crashed in flames, killing pilot Jack Newman and three other members of the crew...
"Alkemade was subsequently captured and interviewed by the Gestapo, who were initially suspicious of his claim to have fallen without a parachute until the wreckage of the aircraft was examined. (Reportedly, the Germans gave Alkemade a certificate testifying to the fact.)[2] He was a celebrated prisoner of war, before being repatriated in May 1945."
Terry Foreman • Link
Captain Ferrer is NOT a neval officer
Captain Ferrer or Ferrers started out as Montague's "Cornet", and then as his "master of horse".
A Cornet is a low ranking cavalry officer that carried the troop flag (or cornet).
The family name means "horse-shoer and iron worker".
He seems from the diary to be a very dashing fellow, almost literally in the entry of May 19 1661 where he jumps from a balcony on a bet.
To have a "master of horse" at all seems to be somewhat of a luxury item, together with "a French cook" and "and his lady and child to wear black patches".
So maybe the dashing, the drinking, gambling and womanising were all part of the job profile.
Sjoerd Spoelstra posted this on the Capt. Robert Ferrer page http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…